LPG Bargemobile

It's them wide A pillars that stop you dying when you slam it into the back of a truck.

Indeed. Find yourself an A6 with the 5cyl diesel, or an S80 TDi, or an E300TD.

see if you can grab a V70 love them quite and well comfy too. plus you get a proper good stereo in the volvo.

I don't like diesels. The only one I've thought seemed alright that I've been in is the 1.7 in the new Astras. Even Merc and VAG diesels of 5 years ago seem rough and s**te to me. And I'd rather avoid the complication of dual mass flywheels.

You will like them when it comes to reliability and pure lack of appetit for fuel.

As to outright speed from A to B: an Audi A8 TDI (275 HP) proved to be marginally quicker than a 928 GTS (350 HP) on the run Brussels-Munich (880 km) as it does the distance without stopping for fuel.

With the 928 (flat out) I need about 190 liters of petrol (you start with a full tanc end "enroute" you have to fill up twice) because the

Granted : the roar of the Porsche is better and at 250 I wave the A8 good-bye but the bugger keeps me in sight.

Long distance, high speed: you can't beat a bloody diesel if it has power enough to cruise at 220-230... at the 250-limiter it will need around 18liters/100 where the V8 of the 928 will not leave a lot from 40 l/100 km.

With 300 HP used continously I would rate the duration of a *big* tanc of LPG at about 1.5 Hr of driving. So for BXL-Munich you would have to fill up 3 to 4 times, even when starting with a full tanc.

Have I bought a diesel? Hell no: the Munich run while being business contains a high portion of fun. So the 928 is -as we speak- receiving a somewhat stronger hart... in the US of A off course: Porsche flatly refused to perform engine mods on it.

Tom De Moor

Saab never used to need them?

I like this one.

No matter how strong an old C900 may appear, I bet it would struggle to get a decent NCAP rating if tested to modern standards.

You may not like diesels, but there are many bloody good reasons why 90% of company car drivers choose them.

I get well over 600 miles between fuel stops (have had as much as 800 when driving like a nun), 80mph sees it turning over at around 2600rpm on the motorway, meaning it's very quiet and refined plus, you can stick it in 4th and more or less forget about changing gear on many A and B roads. (Obviously, you will get more performance if you change gears, but you need less changes than in a non-turbo petrol of around the same power output).

Genuine parts is where it's at. IME pattern stuff is depressingly often s**te.

I love the A pillars in old C900s. Absolute work of genius. Instead of making massive pillars, let's make massive pillars but make them oval / rectangular in section and angle them so the driver can actually see.

I don't want to spend what can be up to 4 hours a day (more if there's traffic) in a car I don't like driving. If I were offered a company car, I'd tell them I'd rather have the money as there is nothing that floats my boat in the world of new cars this side of pure sports cars or £50k plus supersaloons and supercars.

You have much to learn.

I much prefer driving my 75 to driving the Passat - however, when I'm stuck in traffic on the M4 or following the tourists in mid-Wales, I prefer to be in the Passat with the comfy seats, over-assisted controls and climate control.

My boss took the cash in her last job - she couldn't wait for the 12 months to be up so she could opt back into the scheme.

Being totally serious, I wouldn't go any older than a B5 shaped Passat / A4 / A6 or a W124 Merc E300TD for the kind of mileage and use you're going to give the car.

You don't want to spend 4 hrs a day driving an old smelly heap which is always on the verge of having a major bill that you'll have to pay and wondering whether you'll need a rental to get home.

Under ideal circumstances I'd choose an E64 or an M5. Life is full of comprimises, get yourself something rear drive and diesel engined - omega / BMW / merc. You'll not regret it long term.

That's one big reason why I am very wary of taking the cash - at the moment, if I break down or crash, I'll get a rental delivered to me within an hour or two.

Hmmmm, problem with the BMW and Omega, at least, is that the 525TDS engine is hardly more economical than a petrol.

Was thinking 4 cyl, so 320d or a later omega with the 2.2

drive a new corsa if you wanna see f*ck all! i know it's meant to be safe but how safe is seeing f*ck all?

You shouldn't: the 525TDS was/is one of BMW masterpieces. Rock solid German engineering.

It can indeed be found in an Omega (otherwise the Omega wouldn't have sold), but also in some Land/Range Rover-items.

Knowing the risk to offend Pete M: the 525TDS-engine did turn the tide on European mainland sold Range Rovers. Finally there was a Range who depreciated a bit slower that the petrol level in its reservoir or who went back to the dealer for other faults than the engine.

The 525TDS is about -no : is- the only engine on which I have seen with more than 700.000 km and still going strong. The car even looked semi- decent (not like my carpet-hooled Subaru with a mere 180.000 km on the ticker).

However this German didn't sell his 525TDS easily: nobody wanted it. The Kraut swallowed his pride, swore at every-one , maintained his asking price and continue to drive it (he drove French journals to Berlin for a living). There is an e-mail somewhere here when he aanonced about 2 years later the BMW finally sold. By then it had in excess of 900.000 km.

The only engines with more mileage I've met, were in trucks.

Tom De Moor

It may well be build to withstand a Trident missile attack, but it's no good if it'll only deliver around 30mpg.

Remember, our diesel is more expensive than petrol, so the *only* advantage in buying a diesel is the extra mpg.

I certainly wouldn't want one in the Omega, 'cos it was detuned but still just as thirsty.